Roll gate latch

ABSTRACT

A latch for a roll gate including a latch unit support on the gate for detachably coupling with a sleeve-supported latch pin pair extending diametrically oppositely outwardly from a stationary vertical fence post. The latch unit includes a pair of levers viewed together, each one of which is disposed on opposite sides of the roll gate post, the unit pivotally fixed thereto. One end of the latch unit is provided with handle means and the other end is notched along angled surfaces to receive the latch pins. Spring biasing means urge the latch unit to the locked position, and the handles may be operated in such a manner that the unit is pivoted to withdraw the notches from engagement with the latch pin to open the gate. One of the levers at the notched end thereof is provided with an opening for alignment with a lock arm secured to the fence post latch pin for receiving a lock extending through both elements to lock the gate in the closed position.

United States Patent [191 Edwards 111 3,747,967 [451 July 24,1973

1 1 ROLL GATE LATCH [76] Inventor: William F. Edwards, 3301 W.

Moreland St., Phoenix, Ariz. 85009 22 Filed: Sept. 14,1972

21 Appl. No.: 289,010

[56] 7 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1963 Sussina l. 292/341.l9 X

10/1972 Edwards 3/1967 Leonard 292/341. X

Primary Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe Attorney-William c. Cahill, James H. Phillips et al.

Met

[57] ABSTRACT A latch for a roll gate including a latch unit support on the gate for detachably coupling with a sleevesupported latch pin pair extending diametrically oppositely outwardly from a stationary vertical fence post. The latch unit includes a pair of levers viewed together, each one of which is disposed on opposite sides of the roll gate post, the unit pivotally fixed thereto. One end of the latch unit is provided with handle means and the other end is notched along angled surfaces to receive the latch pins. Spring biasing means urge the latch unit to the locked position, and the handles may be operated in such a manner that the unit is pivoted to withdraw the notches from engagement with the latch pin to open the gate. One of the levers at the notched end thereof is provided with an opening for alignment with a lock arm secured to the fence post latch pin for receiving a lock extending through both elements to lock the gate in the closed position.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Mb 1 6 /7b ROLL GATE LATCH This invention relates generallyto gate latches and, more particularly, to a roll gate latch for use with a roll gate which translates in-its own plane rather than with a swinging motion.

A prior art roll gate latch of merit is disclosed in my US. Pat. application Ser. No. 85,191, filed Oct. 29, 1970 and now US. Pat. No. 3,698,752, and entitled Roll Gate Latch. While the latch described therein constitutes an improvement over the earlier art, a problem remained in that rapid and economic installation was difficult because the installation of the fixed latch pin to which the latch unit coupled necessitated drilling appropriate holes through the post for receiving the same. Hence, once the determination of position was made, no further vertical adjustment was possible, and it was found that, in practical use, some vertical adjustment was almost always necessary to achieve secure and effortless operation of the latch.

It is'therefore a broad object of my invention to provide an improved roll gate latch.

It is another object of my invention to provide a roll gate latch which is readibly incorporated in and accommodated to a variety of roll latches. Q

It is a more specific object of my invention to provide a roll gate latch in which the latch pin unit may be easily vertically adjusted to provide precise alignment with the latch unit carried by the roll gate.

. The subject matter of the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification.

The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, may bestbe understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing of which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the latch mechanism incorporating the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view observed from the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to both the drawings, it will be observed that the latch unit 1 locks the roll gate 3 to a stationary post 4 supporting an end of fence 5 by coupling with latch pins 2a and 2b which fall into corresponding notches 6a and 6b. The latch unit 1 is pivotally fixed to gate post 7 by bushings 8a and 8b which are supported by nutand bolt assembly 9 passing through the lever arms 10a and 10b and the post 7. Alternatively, the nut and bolt assembly 9 may be replaced with a cylindrical member having an enlarged cap portion at one end and a circumferential notch at the other end for receiving a snap ring or snap cap to fix the unit in place.

Handles 11a and 11b project outwardly from the lever arms 10a and 10b to permit access for operating the latch from either side of the gate. The end of the latch unit 1 extending on the handle side ofthe gate post 7 is biased downwardly by means of a spring 12 extending from a cross-member 13 between the lever arms 10a and 10b and a post clamp 14 disposed beneath the latch unit 1. The cross-member 13 is held in place by nut and bolt assembly 15 or, alternatively, the cross-member may be eliminated and a groove provided forreceiving the upper terminal of the spring 12.

A secondpair of lever arms 16a and 16b are offset and 16b are angled surfaces 170 and 17b which introduce the latch pins 2a and 2b into the notches 6a and from the lever arms 10a and 10b of the latch unit 1 to accommodate the inherent offset between the gate 3 and the fence 5. The forwardends of the lever arms 16a 6b in the obvious manner when the gate is closed.

The latch pin unit fixed to the stationary post 4 includes a circumferential clamp 17 which is fixed in its vertical position by nut and bolt assembly 18. The latch pins 2a and 2b are welded to the outer surface of the clamp 17 diametrically opposed to one another as best shown in FIG. 2. The latch pin 2a extends outwardly further than the latch pin 2b in order to loosely support a lock arm 19 between circumferentially enlarged portions 20a and 20b. Theotherend of the lock arm 19 is provided with an aperture 21 which may be manually aligned with a corresponding aperture 22 in the lever arm 16a for receiving a lock 23 whereby the gate may be locked to the fence in such a manner that it cannot be opened for manipulating the handles 11a and 11b. During initial installation, the nut and bolt assembly 18 may be loosened sufficiently to permit vertical and circumferential adjustment of the clamp 17, and hence the latch pins 2a and 2b, to provide optimum alignment between the latch unit 1 and the latch pins. The nut and bolt assembly 18 may be then permanently retightened. With this arrangement, the necessity for critical measurement and adjustment observed in the installation of the previously referenced prior art latch unit is eliminated.

In operation, the gate may be opened by lifting one of the handles 11a and 11b to pivot the latch unit 1 sufficiently to withdraw the notches 6a and 6b from engagement with the latch pins 2a and 2b whereupon the gate 3 may be rolled away from the fence 5. To close the gate, it is only necessary to roll it toward the fence in such a manner that the latch pins 2a and 2b will first engage the angled surfaces 17a and 17b to force the lever arms 16a and 16b are engaged, at which instant thespring -l2 pulling down on the cross-member l3 snaps the latch unit 1 to the horizontal position indicated in FIG. 1.

In order to limit the range of pivoting motion through which the latch unit 1 may pass, stop means comprising a bolt 24 passing through a threaded aperture 25 in cross-piece 26 between the lever arms 10a and 10b are provided. After the clearance between the threaded end of the bolt 24 and the gate post 7 is adjusted to achieve the range of motion desired, lock nut 27 is tightened against the cross-piece 26 to make the adjustment permanent.

- While the principles of the invention have now been made clear in an illustrative embodiment, there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, the elements, materials, and components, used in the practice of the invention which are particularly adapted for specific environments and operating requirements without departing from those principles.

I claim: 1

1; In a roll gate latch, the combinationv of a latch pin unit secured to a fixed fence post and a pivotable latch unit carried on a vertical gate post, said latch unit being selectively engageable and disengageable with said latch pin unit; i

a. said latch pin unit comprising:

l. a circumferential clamp encompassing said gate post,

2. first and second latch pins extending diametrically oppositely outwardly from the outer surface of said clamp, and,

3. means for tightening said clamp about said gate post to fix its vertical and circumferential position thereon;

b. said latch unit comprising:

1. first and second pairs of lever arms offset from one another, the arms of both pairs being generally parallel to one another,

2. the arms of said first pair being positioned on opposite sides of said gate pipe and pivotably supported thereon by a horizontal member extending through said gate pipe;

3. handle means disposed proximate the outer end of said first lever arm pair;

4. said second pair of lever arms including first and second parallel angled surfaces proximate the outer end thereof for sliding engagement with said latch pins,

5. first and second notches along said first and second angled surfaces for receiving said first and second latch pins, and

6. biasing means tending to urge said latch unit toward the position which retains said latch pins in said notch whereby said latch unit may be disengaged from said latch pin unit by operating said handle means to overcome said biasing means.

2. The roll gate latch of claim 1 in which said biasing means comprises a tension spring coupled between said first pair of lever arms and a vertically stationary point on said roll gate.

3. The roll gate latch of claim 2 which further includes a clock arm pivotally fixed to said first latch pin and including an aperture proximate its free end, said first lever arm of said first pair being provided with a corresponding aperture for alignment with said aperture in said lock arm for receiving a lock whereby the latch unit and latch pin unit may be locked together. 

1. In a roll gatE latch, the combination of a latch pin unit secured to a fixed fence post and a pivotable latch unit carried on a vertical gate post, said latch unit being selectively engageable and disengageable with said latch pin unit; a. said latch pin unit comprising:
 1. a circumferential clamp encompassing said gate post,
 2. first and second latch pins extending diametrically oppositely outwardly from the outer surface of said clamp, and,
 3. means for tightening said clamp about said gate post to fix its vertical and circumferential position thereon; b. said latch unit comprising:
 1. first and second pairs of lever arms offset from one another, the arms of both pairs being generally parallel to one another,
 2. the arms of said first pair being positioned on opposite sides of said gate pipe and pivotably supported thereon by a horizontal member extending through said gate pipe;
 3. handle means disposed proximate the outer end of said first lever arm pair;
 4. said second pair of lever arms including first and second parallel angled surfaces proximate the outer end thereof for sliding engagement with said latch pins,
 5. first and second notches along said first and second angled surfaces for receiving said first and second latch pins, and
 6. biasing means tending to urge said latch unit toward the position which retains said latch pins in said notch whereby said latch unit may be disengaged from said latch pin unit by operating said handle means to overcome said biasing means.
 2. first and second latch pins extending diametrically oppositely outwardly from the outer surface of said clamp, and,
 2. the arms of said first pair being positioned on opposite sides of said gate pipe and pivotably supported thereon by a horizontal member extending through said gate pipe;
 2. The roll gate latch of claim 1 in which said biasing means comprises a tension spring coupled between said first pair of lever arms and a vertically stationary point on said roll gate.
 3. The roll gate latch of claim 2 which further includes a clock arm pivotally fixed to said first latch pin and including an aperture proximate its free end, said first lever arm of said first pair being provided with a corresponding aperture for alignment with said aperture in said lock arm for receiving a lock whereby the latch unit and latch pin unit may be locked together.
 3. handle means disposed proximate the outer end of said first lever arm pair;
 3. means for tightening said clamp about said gate post to fix its vertical and circumferential position thereon; b. said latch unit comprising:
 4. said second pair of lever arms including first and second parallel angled surfaces proximate the outer end thereof for sliding engagement with said latch pins,
 5. first and second notches along said first and second angled surfaces for receiving said first and second latch pins, and
 6. biasing means tending to urge said latch unit toward the position which retains said latch pins in said notch whereby said latch unit may be disengaged from said latch pin unit by operating said handle means to overcome said biasing means. 